PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) — Two Navy sailors are in serious condition after an explosion involving Navy oxygen equipment near a home in Port Orchard.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office says the men, 22 and 28, had obvious nose, throat, face, arm and hand burns. They were airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the explosion Friday night.
Deputy Scott Wilson told the Kitsap Sun Saturday that witnesses reported the two men were cutting off the ends of oxygen canisters, inhaling the contents and throwing the canisters into the fire.
Wilson said the men are on active duty and assigned to a submarine at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor. The oxygen equipment is used in emergencies on Navy vessels.
